Start with two people who love to travel. (Pictured above: my mom and dad on their honeymoon, in New York State.)

Add a three year old about to take her first big trip. My Aunt Lois gave me a nifty suitcase/umbrella combo for Christmas that year. Not only did I feel like a big girl on the airplane, I played with the suitcase for years.

Be lucky enough to have relatives who live in California. And when you and your mom fly there for your cousin's baptism, you get to visit Disneyland.

True story: when I was two-and-a-half, and my sister was six weeks old, my parents took us camping. The campground was only twenty miles from home. What could possibly go wrong?

Some time after we reached the campground, the car keys went missing. My parents searched the campsite but eventually realized they were irretrievably lost. So my dad hitchhiked back to the farm and got a spare set from my grandfather, while my mom waited with the toddler and the newborn at the campground.

You'd think after an experience like that, they'd give travelling a miss for a while. But they didn't, and we kept travelling every summer. To the best of my knowledge, we never lost the car keys again. (Although they probably started taking a spare set.)

And if that isn't enough to keep you from taking a trip every year, you just might end up with a family that loves to travel.

Your little red suitcase and umbrella were adorable! My parents were not travelers. Boaters, but only Great Lakes and Canada. Think Mexico once was as far as they ever traveled. I didn't do much either to begin with, but had my kids take any and all trips offered at school. My daughter took a semester at Le Rosey. My dad warned me...once she gets a taste of that, she'll never stop. Why the warning I wondered back then? He was right, she's never stopped AND takes me along. I disagreed with my dad...still can't figure out his reasoning.

Oh, good for your parents--camping with a newborn! Traveling is great. We have neighbors who won't venture any further than where they can sleep in their own bed at night. And then we're the opposite. I did growing up also. Your suitcase is the best and I love your little white gloves too! Those were the days!

Oh my goodness, you were the cutest little tot! We grew up traveling somewhere "big" at least once a year, usually twice, and I have so many fond memories of those family trips. And now, at almost two years old, my daughter already has 8 airplane flights and one roadtrip under her belt. =) We're hoping to raise a travel-loving little lady, too!

Thanks everyone, for your lovely comments. Yup, my parents definitely had more courage than me. I didn't take my kids on trips until after they were out of diapers.Barbara, I'm hoping that if either of my daughters loves to travel like that, they'll take me too!And Amy, you're going to have the most fearless little traveller!

What a great story! Today you'd never be able to take that umbrella on an airplane - I'm pretty sure they'd consider it a weapon. I had a suitcase just like that in white with my name on it that my parents got each of us girls. We played with ours for years as well. Today parents would never consider plastering a child's name across a suitcase. Wow times have changed, haven't they?

We always traveled and adored it! I don't have any stories like that but my husband and I continued our family traditions and have taken our children everywhere at any age. It has been fun and now they are grown. Can't wait until my grandson can go camping!

I love your little red suitcase! My parents were not travelers. When my kids were younger we loved packing up the car and taking impromptu weekend trips. (Never camping with a 6 wk old though!) I do enjoy reading about all of your travels! :)

That's such a great story, Beth! I love the photos especially little you with that nifty suitcase and umbrella. What a precious gift your parents passed on to you and that you're passing on to your children too.